Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, called the absence ''beyond conspicuous,'' because black artists are often credited with inventing rock music.

''It would be like doing a set of cans of six great Impressionist painters and not including any French people on it,'' he said.

The promotion, which ties rock's anniversary to Presley's debut at Sun Studios in Memphis, also depicts Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Willie Nelson, as well as the guitars of Eric Clapton and Joe Walsh, on cans being issued this summer.

Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Wenner Media, the publisher of Rolling Stone, said race was not a consideration when choosing the artists.

''We didn't even consciously think pro or con, the same way that the only woman on there is Blondie,'' he said. ''We just went with the people that we thought were appropriate.'' A Miller spokesman, Scott Bussen, said the company started with a broad wish list, but its choices were limited to Rolling Stone covers.

''I'm sure that our objective was to get as diverse a representation of musical acts as well as diversity,'' he said.

Mr. Armstrong noted that Rolling Stone, which was first published in 1967, arrived years after many formative black artists of the genre had emerged. And some artists who appeared on its covers balked at being used in a promotion involving alcohol, he said.

''These are the artists that gave us approval to use their images on the beer cans,'' a Miller spokeswoman, Molly Reilly, said.

Six of the initial 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1986 were black, including Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles and Little Richard.

The black rock musician Lenny Kravitz has criticized the use of Presley's first Sun Studio recording as rock's birth date, saying it leaves out the true pioneers.